JP4523955B2 - Vacuum forming machine for interior products - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a vacuum suction mold for a skin material and a base material, and by clamping the mold and vacuum suction from both sides, the heat-softened foam layer of the flat skin material is made into a vacuum suction mold for a base material. The present invention relates to a vacuum molding machine for an interior product which is bonded to a set base material with a hot-melt adhesive and is shaped along the surface of a vacuum suction mold for the skin material.

  As a vacuum forming machine of this type, the applicant of the present application discloses, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a convex vacuum suction mold for a base material on which a base material in which an intake passage is dispersedly formed is set, and a mold corresponding to the surface shape of the entire skin. A flat skin material with a thermoplastic foam layer in which the skin is bonded to the front surface and a hot-melt adhesive is applied to the back surface, in preparation for facing the concave vacuum suction mold for the skin material having a surface. In a state where the substrate is set to a convex vacuum suction mold for heating, the mold is clamped and vacuum suction is performed from the concave vacuum suction mold side for the skin material and the convex vacuum suction mold side for the substrate. By adhering the softened foam layer to the base material with a hot-melt adhesive, the interior material vacuum is formed along the surface of the concave vacuum suction mold for the skin material. A molding machine was proposed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, in order to manufacture an instrument panel of an automobile, a convex vacuum suction die 8 for a base on which the base 5 is set and a mold surface corresponding to the surface shape of the entire skin are provided. Thermoplastic foam having a skin material concave vacuum suction mold 7 facing the vacuum suction mold 7 having vacuum suction at the suction port 7a, having a skin 11 bonded to the front surface, and a hot-melt adhesive 13 applied to the back surface. The flat skin material 10 with the layer 12 is heated, and the mold is clamped in a state where it is set on the base material 5 with the distributed intake passage set in the convex vacuum suction die 8 for base material, and vacuum is applied from both sides. The foamed layer 12 that has been sucked and softened is adhered to the base material 5 that has been brought into close contact with the base material 5 by sucking it through the dispersion air intake passage, and the skin material 10 is used for the skin material. It is shaped along the mold surface of the concave vacuum suction mold 7. In FIG. 5, the manufactured instrument panel occupies a position rotated approximately 45 ° counterclockwise as viewed in the figure when assembled to the vehicle.

In such a molding process, in addition to applying the mold release material to the mold peripheral area including the mold surface areas A and E of the convex vacuum suction mold 8 for the base material with which the terminal portion of the skin material 10 is in direct contact, Corresponding to the opening 5a when, for example, an opening 5a for attaching the meter cluster portion is formed in the base material 5 and the skin material 10 is not adhered to the peripheral region including the base material surface regions C and D for attachment. A mold release material is also applied to the mold surface area B to be masked, and the substrate surface areas C and D are covered with a tape or the like for masking.
JP 2005-125735 A

  Therefore, when molding an interior product in which such a skin material with a foam layer is bonded to a base material with a hot-melt adhesive, if there is a region where the skin material is not desired to be bonded to the base material side, a release material is applied. Or, pre-treatment such as masking is required, and in addition, periodic cleaning is necessary to eliminate mold contamination caused by these.

  In view of such a point, the present invention is exposed by a base material region and a base material opening that are not desired to be adhered when a foam layer coated with a hot melt adhesive of a skin material is adhered to the base material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum molding machine for interior parts that can eliminate the need for non-wearing pretreatment for a mold surface area or a mold surface area where a foam layer around a mold is directly set.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides, according to claim 1, a convex vacuum suction mold for a substrate on which a substrate with a distributed intake passage is set, and a mold surface corresponding to the surface shape of the entire skin. A flat skin material with a thermoplastic foam layer, which is provided with a concave vacuum suction mold for a skin material having a facing state, the skin is bonded to the front surface, and a hot-melt adhesive is applied to the back surface, In a state where the substrate is set to a convex vacuum suction mold for heating, the mold is clamped and vacuum suction is performed from the concave vacuum suction mold side for the skin material and the convex vacuum suction mold side for the substrate. By adhering the softened foam layer to the base material with a hot-melt adhesive, the interior material vacuum is formed along the surface of the concave vacuum suction mold for the skin material. In a molding machine, the non-adherent substrate region or non-adhesive substrate area that does not adhere the foamed layer even if vacuum suction is applied There is a cooling mechanism that cools the mold surface on the back surface of the non-adhering substrate region or the non-adhesive surface region to the extent that the foamed layer is not adhered to the convex vacuum suction mold part for the substrate that occupies the mold surface region with a hot-melt adhesive. It is built in.

  Due to the cooling of the mold surface on the back surface of the non-bonding substrate region or the non-molding surface region by the cooling mechanism, the hot-melt adhesive interposed in the foamed layer adhered by the mold clamping loses its original adhesive force due to its temperature drop.

According to the invention of claim 1, in the mold on the base material side, the mold corresponding to the base material or the mold surface where it is not desired to adhere the thermoplastic foam layer coated with the hot-melt adhesive of the skin material. By incorporating a cooling mechanism into the mold part, it is no longer necessary to cover the non-bonding substrate area with a masking material or to apply a release material to the non-molding surface area. No need to clean molds. According to the invention of claim 2, the cooling mechanism can be easily manufactured as a built-in type into the convex vacuum suction mold for the substrate, and according to the invention of claim 3, a simple pipe having a built-in pipe for circulating the refrigerant is provided. With the configuration, the metal body surrounding it can efficiently conduct the cold temperature to the mold surface, and according to the invention of claim 4, it is simply configured by forming fins in a solid metal insert. According to invention of claim | item 5, it can cool efficiently, suppressing a heat loss.
Is done.

  An interior product vacuum forming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same or equivalent parts as those of the molding machine shown in FIG. 5 will be described using the same reference numerals. The convex vacuum suction mold 18 for the base material facing the concave vacuum suction mold 7 for the skin material that is porous so as to be used for vacuum suction corresponds to the convex vacuum suction mold 8 for the base material described above, and is the same type. A cooling mechanism 20 for cooling the mold surface corresponding to a region where the foam layer 12 is not bonded is incorporated in the mold.

  The substrate-use convex vacuum suction mold 18 incorporates a heat retaining pipe 19 to which hot water is supplied from a heat retaining device, and as is well known, the mold surface corresponds to the required temperature characteristics of the adhesive at room temperature. It is supposed to set higher than. Further, this mold is provided with a pipe-like suction path (not shown) connected to a suction path (not shown) in which the set base material 5 is dispersedly formed and connected to a vacuum pump. In the tightened state, the foamed layer 12 is brought into close contact with the substrate 5 side by vacuum suction through the dispersed intake passages.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the convex vacuum suction die 18 for the base material extends in the aforementioned depth direction in which the release material is conventionally applied because the end region of the skin material 10 is in direct contact. Peripheral back surface mold including a mold surface area A, a mold surface area B corresponding to the opening 5a for attaching the meter cluster portion of the base material 5, and base material surface areas C and D to which the four-sided skin material 10 is not bonded. A notch 18a having a depth sufficient to allow piping is formed including the surface region, and the pipe 22 is embedded in the notch, for example, an approximately L made of an ingot made of a metal having good heat conductivity such as aluminum. A solid insert 21 having a solid shape is incorporated through a heat insulating layer 23 made of, for example, a synthetic resin to constitute a cooling mechanism 20 that makes these regions A to D and the like non-attached regions to the foamed layer 12.

  That is, the pipe 21 is folded and piped in the nest 21 so as to cool the substrate surface area C and the mold surface area A to such an extent that the foam layer 12 cannot be bonded with the hot-melt adhesive 13. 22 is embedded, one of which is led out as an inlet side pipe 22a for supplying, for example, cold water as a refrigerant of the cooling device, and the other one extends upward so as to cool the region B and the region D. It is folded up and down and left and right to form a one-layer piping portion 22c for the opening 5a, and is further led out as an outlet side pipe 22b. As a result, cold water is supplied from the cooling device through the inlet side pipe 22a and returned from the outlet side pipe 22b while cooling the surrounding solid body so that the cold water is circulated. The temperature of the cold water is, for example, several degrees C. in consideration of heat loss due to the aluminum insert 21 so that the non-adhesion regions A to D can be cooled to a temperature sufficiently lower than the lower limit temperature required for bonding the adhesive 13. Set low.

  The manufacturing method of the instrument panel using the vacuum forming machine of the interior product configured as described above is as follows. The thermoplastic skin material 10 is, for example, a foam layer 12 made of PP foam is welded to a skin 11 made of TPO, a hot-melt olefin-based adhesive 13 is applied to the back surface thereof, wound in a roll shape, and stored. It is cut into a predetermined shape at the time of molding, is supported in a flat shape, and the whole area is heated by a heater. The temperature setting is several hundred degrees Celsius so as to soften the foamed layer 12 and heat-melt the adhesive 13 so that it can be bonded.

  On the other hand, the base material 5 formed in a corresponding shape is set in the convex vacuum suction mold 18 for the base material, and the mold surface area to which the foamed layer 12 is bonded is a temperature required for bonding, for example, 35 ° C. or more. Correspondingly, the temperature is kept at about 40 ° C. by the circulation of warm water by the heat insulation pipe 19. Further, the above-described mold surface area A in which the terminal area of the skin material 10 is in direct contact, the mold surface area B of the opening 5a, and the surrounding substrate surface areas C, D, etc. In the thermally insulated state by the heat insulating layer 23, the temperature is cooled to, for example, about 25 ° C., which is sufficiently lower than 35 ° C. The temperature of the cold water is adjusted slightly lower than 25 ° C. according to the temperature gradient with respect to the mold surface area to be cooled. A mold release material is applied to the mold surface area of the convex vacuum suction mold 18 for the base material in which the remaining uncooled terminal area of the skin material 10 is in direct contact.

  Next, the skin material 10 from which the heater has escaped is set on the surface of the base material 5, the concave vacuum suction mold 7 for the skin material and the convex vacuum suction mold 18 for the base material are clamped, and both molds are moved to both sides. Perform vacuum suction. As a result, the foamed layer 12 vacuum-sucked is adhered to the base material 5 with the hot-melt adhesive 13, and the skin 11 is made of the concave vacuum suction die 7 for a porous skin material over the entire area. It is closely adsorbed on the mold surface 7b and shaped along the mold surface 7b while compressing or expanding the foamed layer 12 in the heat softened state, thereby producing an all-olefin instrument panel. At that time, since the adhesive 13 was in a heated state with respect to the non-adhesion areas A to D on the convex vacuum suction mold 18 side for the base material, the adhesive 13 was in close contact with each other at a relatively high temperature. The temperature immediately drops to a temperature at which adhesion cannot be achieved due to heat conduction, and therefore adhesion of the opening 5a of the foamed layer 12 to the mold surface area B is avoided, and adhesion to the surrounding substrate surface areas C, D, etc. is not performed. Adhesion of the skin material terminal portion on one side to the mold surface region A is also avoided.

  After the mold opening, the vacuum-formed instrument panel is removed, the end of the skin material 10 is cut, and the opening 5a is opened by cutting the non-attached portion of the surrounding foam layer 12. At the time of assembling to the vehicle, the meter cluster portion is attached to the opening, and is fixed to the exposed base material portion with a clip or the like.

  FIG. 4 shows a substrate mold with a cooling mechanism according to another embodiment. In the above-mentioned convex vacuum suction mold 18 for a substrate, the above-mentioned substrate surface region D is added as a normal adhesion region. The nest 21a is retracted downward with respect to the above-described nest 21 so as to warm. Spacers 24 are formed as insulating layers by dispersing and arranging spacers 26 interposed in the corresponding cutouts 18b on the bottom surface of the insert 21a. Furthermore, two pipes 27 are also folded back in the three peripheral mold surface areas where the terminal portions other than the mold surface area A are set, and the mold surface in the mold peripheral area is cooled, so that the insert 21a In combination with the cooling mechanism, it is not necessary to apply the release material over the entire area.

  Note that the present invention is also applicable to a case where a notch or an opening for attachment to the vehicle body is formed on the instrument panel base material, or when it is desired to avoid the application of a release agent exclusively to the mold surface. it can. In addition, it is applicable also to the same interior goods provided with the skin material of 3 layers other than an instrument panel. The set temperature of the cooling mechanism is appropriately set according to the adhesive temperature characteristics of the hot-melt adhesive applied or laminated on the back surface of the foam layer.

  Further, the cooling mechanism can be configured to be a forced air cooling system that blows cold air or a natural air cooling system. As a natural air cooling system, the above-described nesting is a solid body made of a metal having high thermal conductivity, for example, beryllium copper, and is exposed to the outside air without being covered with a skin material or a base material at the time of mold clamping on the outer peripheral surface. It is also possible to form a fin with a simple structure. It is preferable that a heat insulating layer is interposed between the nest and the notch. This is particularly effective when cooling a narrow region from the mold peripheral surface.

It is a figure which shows the schematic sectional drawing of the vacuum forming machine of the interior goods by embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the cooling mechanism part of the molding machine. It is a figure which shows the cooling mechanism part of the molding machine by the AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is sectional drawing equivalent to the AA line of FIG. 2 of the cooling mechanism by another embodiment. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the vacuum forming machine explaining the conventional pre-processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Base material 5a Opening part 7 Concave vacuum suction type for skin material 10 Skin material 11 Skin 12 Foam layer 13 Adhesive 18 Convex vacuum suction type for base material 18a, 18b Notch 20 Cooling mechanism 21, 21a Nesting 22, 27 Pipe 23 Thermal insulation layer 24 Space 26 Spacer

Claims (5)

The surface is provided with a convex vacuum suction mold for a base material on which a base material in which air intake passages are dispersedly formed is set, and a concave vacuum suction mold for a skin material having a mold surface corresponding to the surface shape of the entire skin. A flat skin material with a thermoplastic foam layer with the outer skin bonded to the back and coated with a hot-melt adhesive on the back surface is heated to a substrate set in a convex vacuum suction mold for the substrate. In this state, the softened foam layer is thermally fused to the substrate by vacuum suction from the concave vacuum suction mold side for the skin material and the convex vacuum suction mold side for the substrate. In the vacuum forming machine for interior parts that are shaped with the surface of the concave vacuum suction mold for the skin material while adhering with the agent,
The non-adhering layer is not adhered to the non-adhering substrate region that does not adhere the foamed layer even when vacuum sucked or the convex vacuum suction type part for the substrate that occupies the non-adhesive surface region to the extent that the foamed layer is not adhered with the hot-melt adhesive. A vacuum forming machine for interior parts, wherein a cooling mechanism for cooling the mold surface on the back surface of the base material region or the non-molding surface region is incorporated.   2. The interior according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism is configured as a nest formed in a shape corresponding to the notch formed in the convex vacuum suction mold for the base material, and the surface forms a mold surface. Vacuum forming machine.   3. The vacuum forming machine for interior parts according to claim 2, wherein the cooling mechanism is constructed by incorporating a pipe for circulating the refrigerant in a solid metal insert.   3. The vacuum forming machine for interior parts according to claim 2, wherein the cooling mechanism is configured by forming fins in a region exposed to outside air when the solid metal insert is clamped.   5. A vacuum forming machine for interior parts according to claim 2, wherein a heat insulating layer is interposed between the insert and the notch.

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